Writing is Where the Heart Is

Reading Strategies for Fiction and Nonfiction

Click the picture to the right to access the notes for reading strategies over Fiction and Nonfiction pieces of literature!

Literary Devices

Click on the picture to the right for access to our literary device notes we took in class!

Author's Purpose : Pixar short films

Red's DreamRed’s Dream is a fascinating study of point of view. The story is told from the point of view of a unicycle that dreams of being the star of the show rather than just a prop for a show. Students can use this short film as a springboard for discussing how point of view affects a story. Consider the following questions:

Who is telling the story?

How does the narrator’s point of view affect the events of the story?

How does the narrator feel about…?

What does the narrator feel is most important?

How would a different point of view affect the story? In the case of Red’s Dream, how would the story be different if told from the perspective of a bicycle or the clown?

Based on the narrator’s perspective on life, what is the overall theme of the story?

Geri's GameGeri’s Game is an excellent film to discuss characterization with your students. Consider the following questions:

Is he senile?

Is he goofy?

Is he bored with life?

Is he a creative thinker?

For the Birds​​For the Birds is an excellent film for teaching situational and dramatic irony. As the birds peck away at the large bird’s claws, we in the audience know that he will soon fall down, causing the power line to rebound upwards, shooting the other birds into the air. It is also situational irony in that the flock of birds rejects the large bird, but the large bird is the one who ends up mocking them with a deep belly laugh at the end. Questions to consider for analyzing irony in For the Birds:

What is ironic about the story?

How does irony relate to the theme of the story?

How does irony create humor in the story—particularly in For the Birds?

La LunaLa Luna is a coming of age story, and students can compare/contrast this coming of age story (bildungsroman) to other such stories in this genre like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Great Expectations, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Outsiders, A Separate Peace, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Harry Potter, The Catcher in the Rye, Siddhartha, and others.This is also an excellent film to discuss symbolism through the symbol of the stars. It is quite purposeful that the film creators chose for the three generations of these men to sweep up stars and not simply trash. Consider the following questions:

What do these stars represent?

What does the one large star represent?

How does the symbol of the stars reveal the characterization of the three different generations of men?

How do the film creators use symbolism to create an overall message?

What does the moon (la luna) symbolize in the film?

Pixar Short Films

​Persuasive Appeals :Click on the picture to the left to access the in-class notes over the different persuasive appeals used in Advertisements, writing, speeches, etc.